Dvar Torah

In this week's parsha, Lech Lecha, we are introduced to Abram,  the first of our forefathers. Throughout the next two parshiot, Abram experiences many challenges and ‘tests’ from G-d.

In this week’s Parsha, Noach, we learn about the famous story of Noah and the ark.

This week's parasha, Bereshit, recounts the incredible tale of the creation of the world. After the Jewish holidays of Tishrei, which include Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), as well as Simchat Torah, which celebrates the cycle of the reading of the Torah, we dive back into the weekly parasha. 

This Friday is the beginning of the holiday Sukkot. We celebrate this holiday to commemorate the time that the Jews spent in the desert thousands of years ago and how they had to make temporary shelters on their journeys.

Yom Kippur, roughly translated to the Day of Atonement, falls exactly ten days after Rosh Hashanah. It is thus generally considered the most important day of the Jewish calendar.

During Rosh Hashanah we celebrate the Jewish New Year; we dress up nicely and dip foods in honey representing sweetness for the new year to come. Rosh Hashanah is categorized as a chag, a holiday.

Parshat Nitzavim is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah

This Parshah includes the laws of the tithes given to the Levites and to the poor, and detailed instructions on how to proclaim the blessings and the curses.

This mitzvah sounds straightforward - if you build a house, put a fence around your roof. Even if this law wasn’t in the Torah, it seems like common sense. A safety precaution. But, if we dig deeper, we can find what we can learn from this seemingly mundane mitzvah.